I'd like to bring up a week old issue of Cyber/steampunk and I'd like
to point out to countinue what someone before me said that Lucca's robot
Gato is kinda a fusion of magic and science as well as say that he's wrong,
Gato has no real apparent magic qualitys. Just good old robotics. However
many of her other inventions like the gate key and (albiet inadvertintly)
the transportation divice are a Cyberpunk fusion.

Chrono Cross spoilers

It is also importint to point out that Chrono Cross Is FULL of cyberpunk in
the city Chronopolis. mainly the super computer, Fate as well as almost
every thing else in the dead sea.

Signed,
Dot Hacker Kite

P.S sorry bout the spelling. Also be aware that I was asuming Cyberpunk ment
a technology made from both magic and science but the definition was never
made clear to me so i just gessed.

Googleshng:
OK, I'm going to clear this all up for you now. Here's a list of the most common sorts of SF settings:Fantasy: Basically, ripping of Lord of the Rings. You've got this vague approximation of the middle ages,
with magic and monsters and elves and dwarves and so forth.Space Opera: Think Star Wars. Honestly, it's a lot like Fantasy when it comes down to it, but
replace the trees with space ships, and start calling the magic "psychic powers" or something.Modern: Take the real world, add one thing.Cyberpunk: This one is honestly pretty specific. It's not too far into the future, maybe 30 years.
People have made some pretty impressive process in the field of cybernetics (robot arms, electronically
enhanced reflexes, etc.), people are using computers a whole bunch, probably in a virtual reality sort
of way, and the world is a dirty dingy sprawl of cities where everything is run by around half a dozen
giant corporate conglomerates that have grown to the point that they answer to no one. Johnny Mneumonic
comes to mind as a nice generic little by the numbers example.Steampunk: This is when you have a setting wherein we have roughly all the various inventions we
have today, but they were created using technology available during the 1800s. So, steam powered computers
and such. It's neat, it's original, and it's being done a bit too much these days to be honest.

You'll notice magic only factors into one of these, two if we're honest with ourselves.

The Problem with Ports

i was just wondering why exactly the cg backgrounds in the ff7 pc version
are "dodgey", considering the playstation versions are natural, just the pc
version has smurfed them up, yet the characters look better, thanks for your
time

regards

Googleshng:
Because, like nearly all ports from one system to another, the people who did it were rather lazy, and
didn't take the extra time to fine tune the graphics and sound to the point where they were as good as
the original. Happens all the time really, which is one of the main reasons I'm not big on ports.

It's also one of the main reasons I don't like emulation.

Hello Google, this is my first time writing in to Q&A, been meaning to for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.

Anyway, I'm curious if you ever play any ROM hacks of NES, SNES, etc. RPGs. There's not many good ones out there (Most just have edited stats and a few minor changes, don't get me wrong some of these are great, but they're not a new experience) but they're around, and I'm working on one myself (FF1 hack, made in the style of NES RPGs including terrible-sounding dialogue...)

The best one I know of is a hack of Dragon Warrior called Dragoon X Omega (Which sadly I have yet to play through, I can stand Dragon Warrior's menu), you can get it here:

*snip*

-Dragonsbrethren

Googleshng:
Nope. People are always shocked at the lack of emulators on my computer, but while the concept of playing
a weird fan-modification of a game is somewhat interesting, I have several hundred games in physical form
that keep me plenty busy.

Time and Money

Hey Googleshng,

I just wanted to say thanks to those people out there who wrote in about SO3 and Phantom Brave. I wasn't all that impressed with SO2 but I think I just might go rent the next installment. I've missed out on both Disgaea and La Pucelle thanks to the humbling experience of post-secondary education and the lack of funds associated with that endeavour... but I do have a birthday coming up and Phantom Brave is sounding more and more like a worthy title. Thanks for the input.

As for changing uniforms in games, I found that Legend of Legaia really impressed me with their system of upgrading the appearance of the characters when they equipped new gear. By the end of the game, the characters looked pretty bad-ass. All of the Final Fantasies incorporate a change in weaponry and FFX also visibly changed shields on characters but I think I would enjoy something more dramatic as well. For instance, for the less covert missions in FFVIII, it would be cool to see the characters running around in their SeeD uniforms, not necessarily their dress attire but some emblazened outfits would be cool.

I was disappointed that in Legend of Dragoon, not even the weapons change variation when you get new equipment. Then again, I'm one of those guys who looks forward to getting Alex up to Dragonmaster just see him get out of those dorky clothes.

For a complete topical change, with this influx of games coming in (Shadow Hearts 2, Megaman X Command Mission, Star Ocean 3, Phantom Brave) do you think you'll have the time or the money to check them all out? I know you're a big Shadow Hearts fan but are there any other games that you might want to try?

Derek

Googleshng:
The time, that I have plenty of it. The money, that I uh... don't. Normally, I tend to get a bit of money
from friends and family when my birthday rolls around in June which covers me through the fall game release
season, but if you poke around my page'o'rantings, you'll see why that didn't happen this year. In any
case, SH2 I will presumably be getting, if only because that pre-order bonus will help me recover a decent
chunk of the cost. The rest of those I'd at least like to have a look at, but it all depends on my weird
gaming luck.

The Host of Q&A Past

Dearest Google, what happens to Q&A hosts when they leave? Do they vanish into thin air, or become rulers of obscure nations, like Latvia or Uzbekistan?

Googleshng:
Well, first they run screaming from their computer and don't come back for at least 3 months. Then most
tend to really regret leaving, and peer in at me through the windows for a while all creepy like, and
then after a few months of that, then yeah, they vanish into thin air.

Ships

From the 9-6 column:

"Do you know of any rpg games that you are a ships captain and are
able to add to your ship or buy a new ship? I would appreciate it if
you could help.

Dustin"

I just recently found a game for GBA called "Sea Trader: Rise of
Taipan." It's not exactly a RPG, but it fits the rest of that
description to the letter.

That's it. Thank you!
--
-Amanda

Googleshng:
Well, the subject line of that letter indicated it was more along the lines of spaceships/airships, but
in any case, yes, if we aren't restricting ourselves to RPGs, there's a lot of other games I could list.
Particularly Escape Velocity and EV: Override. I still love my ship from Override. It started as a 500
ton capacity cargo ship. I think I have something like 50 tons of that left after all the engine upgrades,
the weapon systems, the fighter bay full of my vicious little friends... and pirates still think I'm an
easy target!

The Last Laugh:

There be the column, oddly personal in the questions asked today. Another shall appear tomorrow, so
sayeth the host.